Photo by Vince Fedoroff
COOKING UP A STORM – International FASD Awareness Day was celebrated Monday at Shipyards Park. Here, Jacob Banham, left, with Bridges Café, cooks at the event.
Yukon Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Action Plan released
The Yukon government and the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Interagency Advisory Committee released a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Action Plan for the territory on Monday, World FASD Awareness Day.
The Yukon government and the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Interagency Advisory Committee released a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Action Plan for the territory on Monday, World FASD Awareness Day.
The Yukon FASD Action Plan is a response to the need for a co-ordinated approach to address the issue of FASD in the Yukon, the government said.
The plan identifies key priority actions that build on existing programs and services and work together to create better outcomes for citizens with FASD, and improve outcomes for families and communities throughout Yukon.
“The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Action Plan is part of our commitment to support healthy pregnancies, and to work across departments and collaboratively with our community partners to harmonize supports for persons with FASD,” said Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost.
“I would like to thank the members of the FASD Interagency Advisory Committee for their dedication and commitment to the development of the plan, and particularly for the role that persons with FASD and their parents and care providers have played in shaping the plan and our collective actions.
The action plan identifies seven priority areas, each of equal importance, on which to focus resources in order to achieve the plan’s vision.
The priority areas are supports for people with FASD; support for families and caregivers; awareness; prevention; assessment and diagnosis; knowledge exchange and mentoring; and research and evaluation.
The FASD Action Plan is partly based on community engagement that began in May 2017 and lasted 10 months. Input was received from nine communities across the Yukon.
“It is important that we continue to work together to support women to have healthy pregnancies and to improve the lives of those living with
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in Yukon,” said Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee.
“We engaged with Yukon First Nations and partners to ensure Yukon’s FASD Action Plan reflects the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action that speak to addressing and preventing FASD, and working with the justice system to better address the needs of offenders with FASD.”
A barbecue was held Monday at Shipyards Park to observe the awareness day.
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Comments (4)
Up 15 Down 1
Slippery Fish on Sep 11, 2019 at 6:51 pm
Respects - Lost in the Yukon: Please do not apologize for other peoples perceptions - They own them and they are in control of them. It is sad that we have lost the ability to be critical and the commensurate ability to think critically as a society.
You are correct. Our leadership and our political system has lost its way. The leadership runs around from this issue to that issue like a chicken with its head cut-off and oddly enough, with the same intellectual capacity.
Apologizing for someone else’ feelings is disempowering with a reinforcing tendency. The person never learns to solve problems and this is precisely the problem with politics and exactly why we cannot rely on them to solve problems.
It’s like so totally, totally contrary to why we pay them though. Someone should ask Sandy what he did with his 30 pieces of silver? Perhaps more importantly we should ask who paid it to him...
Up 20 Down 2
Lost In the Yukon on Sep 11, 2019 at 2:23 pm
After all this time, money and previous versions I expected more. A couple of points: none of what is proposed is new or original (a simple Goggle search will show you this); the Outcomes read more as Activities/Objectives or Goals ... an Outcome measures impact eg. the lives of persons living with FASD will look like "this" as a result of access to service; there are no measures noted nor timelines; and finally there is no money committed to ensuring this plan succeeds.
Sorry to be negative but this is yet another example of a can being kicked down the road by a Government and Minister that either is soly paying lipservice to addressing this issue and/or have no clue what they are doing ... without clear measureable objectives to accomplish clear outcomes and no commitment to publicly report progress this is yet another Frost/Silver document that does nothing.
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Nancy Poole on Sep 11, 2019 at 11:40 am
So great to see this has come into being. I know a lot of work has gone into it. So needed by all provinces and territories to direct and support the work on FASD prevention, diagnosis and support. I wish you all the best as you work on this.
Up 21 Down 7
Groucho d'North on Sep 10, 2019 at 9:48 pm
I wish best success to all involved in this program. This sad FASD situation is 100% preventable. Families need to get involved and provide the supports needed to ensure strong healthy babies and moms.